Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for House of the Dragon Season 3 Episode 7.Describing A Song of Ice and Fire as a series of unanswered questions wouldn’t be incorrect. Combing through George R.R. Martin‘s novels and piecing together clues is either a source of fun or frustration, depending on who you ask. Understandably, a multitude of theories surround the origin of Daenerys Targaryen’s (Emilia Clarke) dragon eggs. Early promotion for Fire & Blood claimed its pages held the long-awaited truth, but Martin clarified that his history of the Targaryen dynasty offers “possible answers” which aren’t “meant to be definitive.” House of the Dragon Season 3’s sixth episode all but confirms the HBO adaptation’s take on the subject, and their explanation arrives via an unlikely source.
Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin), Harrenhal’s enigmatic witch-in-residence, woos Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell) to her side with the sight of five unhatched eggs laid by Dreamfyre, the dragon currently bonded to Helaena Targaryen (Phia Saban). Alys’ prized secret has been stashed away since the death of Queen Rhaena, Dreamfyre’s first rider and Helaena’s great-great-aunt. Just like that, a dragon audiences have yet to see onscreen becomes arguably the most important creature in the adaptation’s canon. Fire & Blood’s aforementioned implications positioned Dreamfyre as a likely source for Daenerys’ draconic children, so the revelation isn’t incongruous with Martin’s lore — Harrenhal is the surprising part. Per usual, House of the Dragon is taking an unconventional route to a similar destination.
Who Are Queen Rhaena Targaryen and Dreamfyre in ‘Fire & Blood’?
Rhaena was the eldest grandchild of Aegon the Conqueror and Queen Rhaenys. A frequent dragonrider since she claimed Dreamfyre at 12 years old, Rhaena swiftly evolved from a timid and bookish child into a fearsome adult — still withdrawn, but defiant, calculating, and fiercely protective. Her marriage to her brother, Prince Aegon, produced twin daughters, and positioned Rhaena as Westeros’ future queen. However, her brother-husband never ascended the Iron Throne. Their usurper uncle, Maegor the Cruel, murdered Aegon and forced Rhaena to become one of his three brides. Her escape and reunion with Dreamfyre proved instrumental in securing the throne for her brother Jaehaerys (Michael Carter) — the same king who infamously selected Viserys (Paddy Considine) as his heir over Rhaenys Targaryen (Eve Best).
Collider Exclusive · Game of Thrones Personality Quiz
Which Game of Thrones House Do You Belong To?
Stark · Lannister · Targaryen · Baratheon · Tyrell
Five great houses. Five completely different answers to the same question: how do you hold power in a world that will take it from you the moment you stop paying attention? Eight questions will determine where your loyalties — and your nature — truly lie.
🐺Stark
🦁Lannister
🐉Targaryen
🦌Baratheon
🌹Tyrell
FIND YOUR HOUSE →
01
Someone powerful is acting dishonourably and everyone knows it. What do you do?
In Westeros, the answer to this question has ended more than one great house.
ACall it out, openly and on the record. If honour means anything, it has to mean something when it’s costly.
BUse it. Information about someone else’s dishonour is leverage — and leverage is power.
CAct decisively to correct it — with or without the approval of those around me.
DChallenge them directly. Strength settles disputes more honestly than courtroom manoeuvring.
ENavigate carefully — build alliances, apply quiet pressure, and create a situation where the right outcome becomes inevitable.
NEXT QUESTION →
02
What is the source of your power?
Every house endures because of something. What is it for yours?
AThe loyalty of people who trust me — earned over generations, not bought with gold.
BWealth, intelligence, and the willingness to use both without sentiment.
CA legacy so fearsome and a vision so total that opposition becomes unthinkable.
DPhysical strength, military force, and the respect that comes from being the kind of person nobody wants to fight.
ECharm, connection, and the ability to make powerful people feel that my success is also theirs.
NEXT QUESTION →
03
Who do you truly fight for?
Strip away the banners and the words. The honest answer tells you everything.
AMy family and my people — those who depend on me and have kept faith with me through everything.
BMy family — the ones who share my blood, even when they exhaust me, even when they disappoint me.
CMy cause — a vision larger than any single person, including me.
DMyself, and those few who’ve proven themselves worth fighting beside.
EMy house — its name, its future, the position I intend to leave it in when I’m gone.
NEXT QUESTION →
04
How do you deal with your enemies?
A house’s method reveals its character as clearly as its words ever could.
AHonestly — I face them directly, and I give quarter when it’s warranted.
BThoroughly — I don’t leave loose ends, and I don’t make the same enemy twice.
CDecisively — fire answers questions that diplomacy only delays.
DHead-on — I’d rather meet a threat on the battlefield than behind closed doors.
EElegantly — I prefer to make former enemies into allies, or at least into people who owe me something.
NEXT QUESTION →
05
What kind of ruler do you believe in?
Westeros is full of answers to this question. Most of them end badly.
AA just one — someone who serves the realm rather than using it, who leads by example rather than fear.
BA capable one — someone smart enough to navigate the game, ruthless enough to win it, and realistic about what winning costs.
CA transformative one — someone who doesn’t just rule what exists but reshapes what’s possible.
DA strong one — someone whose authority is beyond question because the alternative is obviously worse.
EA wise one — someone who understands that the realm is fed by more than armies, and that a full stomach keeps more peace than a sharp sword.
NEXT QUESTION →
06
You suffer a devastating loss. How does your house respond?
How a house handles defeat tells you more about it than how it handles victory.
AWe grieve, properly and together — and then we endure, because endurance is what we do.
BWe adapt. We reassess. And we ensure that whoever caused this loss comes to regret it completely.
CWe burn hotter. Setbacks don’t soften us — they clarify what needs to happen next.
DWe hit back. Grief and revenge are the same motion in our house.
EWe regroup quietly, rebuild our position, and return when we’re ready — on our terms, not theirs.
NEXT QUESTION →
07
Which of these truths about Westeros do you most believe?
Every house has a philosophy. This is yours.
AThe lone wolf dies, but the pack survives. Nothing matters more than the people you protect.
BA Lannister always pays their debts — in gold or in kind. Reputation is built on consistency.
CI am the blood of the dragon. Some destinies are written before the person who carries them is born.
DOurs is the fury. When we move, we move completely — and we don’t stop until it’s done.
EGrowing strong means knowing when to bloom and when to wait. Patience is its own kind of power.
NEXT QUESTION →
08
The Iron Throne is within reach. What do you do?
The answer reveals not just your ambition — but your character.
AClaim it only if the realm needs me to — and rule in a way that makes it worth having.
BEnsure someone who owes us sits in it. The power behind the throne is safer than the throne itself.
CTake it. It was always meant to be mine — I feel that in my bones and in my blood.
DSeize it — with both hands, without hesitation. Opportunity in Westeros does not wait to be asked.
EPosition my house to be indispensable to whoever sits there — influence outlasts any single reign.
REVEAL MY HOUSE →
The Maester Has Spoken
Your House Is…
Your answers point to the great house whose words, values, and way of surviving in Westeros match your own. Bend the knee — or don’t. That’s very much up to you.
Winterfell · The North
🐺 House Stark
Winter is Coming — and you have always known it. You prepare not out of fear but out of duty, because the people who depend on you deserve someone who takes the long view.
You lead with honour even when it costs you, because you understand that a reputation built on integrity is the only one worth having.
Your loyalty to family and people runs deep — not as sentiment but as a code that doesn’t bend when things get difficult.
The North endures because Starks endure — not by being the cleverest players in the game, but by being the kind of people others are willing to follow into the cold.
You are that kind of person. The pack survives. The lone wolf dies. You already know which one you are.
Casterly Rock · The Westerlands
🦁 House Lannister
You understand the game — its rules, its exceptions, and exactly when the rules become the exception. You play it without illusions and without apology.
You are sharper than most people realise, and you have learned to use that gap to your advantage.
A Lannister always pays their debts — and you always keep your word, because your word is an instrument of power, and instruments must be kept in working order.
You love your family with a ferocity that sometimes blinds you, and you know it, and you do it anyway.
The lion doesn’t concern itself with the opinion of sheep. Neither, in the end, do you.
Dragonstone · The Iron Throne
🐉 House Targaryen
You carry a sense of destiny that is difficult to explain and impossible to ignore — the feeling that you are not simply participating in the world but meant to reshape it.
You are capable of extraordinary things, and you know it, and that knowledge is both your greatest strength and your most dangerous quality.
Fire and blood are not just words to you — they are a philosophy about what change requires and what it costs.
The Targaryens at their best were transformative rulers who broke chains and defied the limits of what anyone thought possible.
At your best, so are you. The dragon has three heads. You are one of them.
Storm’s End · The Stormlands
🦌 House Baratheon
You are a force — direct, powerful, and difficult to ignore when you enter a room or a conflict. You do not negotiate with challenges. You meet them.
Ours is the fury — and yours is a kind of intensity that commands attention, respect, and occasionally fear from those who underestimate what’s behind it.
You value strength and straight dealing. You’d rather know where you stand in a fight than navigate a web of courtly whispers.
The Baratheons built their house on the back of one of the greatest military victories in Westerosi history — and then struggled with what came after.
The lesson of your house is that winning is not the end of the story. Governing is. You are learning that too.
Highgarden · The Reach
🌹 House Tyrell
You understand that power does not always announce itself — that sometimes it arrives with flowers, good wine, and a smile that doesn’t quite reach the eyes.
Growing strong is your house’s motto, and you live it: patiently, strategically, always investing in the relationships and resources that will matter most when it counts.
You are charming by choice and calculating by nature — a combination that makes you one of the most effective players in any room you enter.
The Tyrells fed King’s Landing and shaped its politics without ever sitting on the Iron Throne — and they were arguably more powerful for it.
You know that the person who controls the food controls the kingdom. And you always know where the food is.
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‘House of the Dragon’ Season 3 Episode 6 Offers a Surprisingly Plausible Origin Story for Daenerys’ Dragons
Rhaena spent years roaming the realm, searching for a peaceful home where she and her daughters could live without being reduced to political pawns. Despite not owning a legitimate crown, her time ruling Dragonstone and her marriage to Androw Farman of Fair Isle earned her the colloquial titles of Queen in the East and Queen in the West, respectively. Between completely disregarding her male suitors and her history of close lady “companions,” Fire & Blood actively implies that Rhaena was a lesbian or, possibly, bisexual with a strong preference for other women.
Martin does confirm how one of those dear friends, Rhaena’s sister-in-law Elissa, sailed away from Dragonstone with three stolen eggs in tow. This theft sparked one of the prevailing theories regarding Daenerys’ petrified eggs. Reports placed Elissa in Pentos and later Braavos, where she allegedly sold her still-undiscovered cache. Game of Thrones’ Illyrio Mopatis (Roger Allam) claims Daenerys’ petrified egg trio hails from the Shadow Lands region of Essos. There’s no evidence to substantiate his assertion or explain the eggs’ journey across a sprawling continent, but Essos is either beyond mere coincidence or an elaborate red herring.
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The small, subtle connections are what really bind these shows together.
House of the Dragon offers a different but plausible explanation. Although Martin doesn’t state whether the stolen eggs came from Dreamfyre, she was a fertile dragon who eventually accompanied Rhaena to Harrenhal. The grieving former queen secluded herself within the haunted castle after Aerea, the daughter Alys mentions, perished from a gruesome illness she contracted when flying to Old Valyria and back. If Alys’ egg stash includes Drogon, Rhaegal, and Viserion, how they crossed the ocean (and dwindled from five eggs to three) is now House of the Dragon’s own unanswered mystery. What’s more, Aemond accepting Alys’ offering has unexpectedly woven the pair into the future — albeit differently than either one envisions.